Local golfer notches pair of aces

October 11, 2006

Bob Rogers of Clovis plays golf at Municipal Golf Course last Thursday. Rogers has golfed with the same group for the past seven years, and usually plays four days a week. (CNJ staff photo: Andy DeLisle)

By Eric Butler: CNJ correspondent

There’s an old story around the clubhouse at Clovis Municipal Golf Course about one of the sport’s greatest legends — and one that Bobby Rogers knows quite well.

It’s all about the odds of sinking a hole-in-one.

“I think any hole-in-one is luck because Ben Hogan went his whole life without hitting one,” Rogers said in between shots on Thursday.

If that’s true, then Rogers, 63, has been awfully lucky within the last month. Twice since mid-September, Rogers has carded aces at Municipal.

He aced the second hole with a 7-iron in mid-September, and No. 7 with a 5-iron Oct. 2. Both are par 3s.

“Me and my brother actually saw (the second one) go into the hole,” said Rogers, who has about a 20 handicap. “It was unbelievable.”

“That’s phenomenal right there,” said Gerald Clancy, who often plays with Rogers. “It’s nearly unheard of — two times within a month.”

Unlike many golfers his age, Rogers eschews a motorized golf cart to get around the course. Instead, he hustles along on foot with his golf bag on a three-wheel push cart.

“I do it for my health,” Rogers said.

A Melrose native, Rogers retired from the Navy.

Rogers, who plays golf four times a week, also recorded a hole-in-one on July 4, 2000, in Pensacola, Fla.

This recent string of luck doesn’t come without some sort of penalty, however.

“It cost me beer money — about 40 bucks,” Rogers said. “When you make a hole-in-one, you’re supposed to buy everyone with you a beer or coke — the beverage of their choice.”